Brickley Wealth Management

05/26/2026

There's a number every seller has been thinking about—the sale price. What most haven't modeled with any precision is what they'll actually keep, year by year, after federal capital gains, the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax, and state tax.

A multi-year tax and cash flow model changes that. It maps the transaction year and the four to five years that follow, surfacing the questions that matter: estimated payment timing, installment sale tradeoffs, purchase price allocation, estate gifting windows that narrow as closing approaches, and the post-liquidity Roth conversion window that often opens once ordinary income normalizes.

The most impactful planning typically starts three or more years before a transaction, but meaningful work is available at every stage—including after closing. The integration across CPA, financial advisor, and estate counsel is where planning value tends to get left behind. That's the gap a well-built model is designed to close.

05/19/2026

The default for most retirement accounts is straightforward—name a spouse or child as the direct beneficiary. But what happens when a beneficiary isn't equipped to manage a sudden inheritance? Age, disability, addiction, creditor exposure, or financial inexperience can all create the need for guardrails.

Naming a trust as the beneficiary of an IRA or 401(k) can provide that control. A trustee can manage distributions according to your wishes rather than handing over a lump sum. The trade-offs are real: the SECURE Act's 10-year rule, see-through trust requirements, compressed trust tax brackets, and the added cost of a Form 1041 filing each year. With thoughtful coordination among legal, tax, and investment advisors, the structure can work—but it has to be drafted and administered with care.

05/13/2026

Please join us in welcoming Carissa Yen to the Brickley Wealth Management team! 🎉

As a Financial Advisor and FPQP®, Carissa supports our clients and advisors across financial planning, investment coordination, and ongoing service — bringing a steady, thoughtful approach to every step of the process.

A Bay Area native and UC Santa Cruz grad, Carissa is an active community volunteer with Key Club International and Kiwanis KYDS. Welcome to the team, Carissa! 👏

05/12/2026

Your financial advisor likely knows your asset allocation, your risk tolerance, and how your portfolio performed last quarter. But unless they also prepare your taxes, there may be layers they don't see—K-1 distributions, capital loss carryforwards, AMT credits, equity compensation history, and the income thresholds that trigger surcharges like NIIT and IRMAA.

A tax return is a diagnostic tool. Combined with what's ahead—vesting schedules, planned sales, retirement timing—it becomes the foundation for proactive planning rather than year-end cleanup. When investment advisory and CPA services work together, decisions like Roth conversions, gain recognition, and ISO exercises can be modeled before they're locked in. That's the value of an integrated approach.

04/30/2026

Cindy's spending the day at Schwab's AI in Action Summit in Newport Beach. Compliance, live demos, advisor panels. A lot to take in, plenty to bring back to the Brickley team.

04/29/2026

A liquidity event feels like a finish line. In reality, it is a starting point.

When equity converts to cash, the planning focus shifts from concentration risk to long-term design: What does this wealth need to accomplish? What does financial independence look like? How should your portfolio, tax strategy, estate plan, and charitable goals align?

Post-liquidity complexity often increases, not decreases. Multi-year tax planning, AMT credit recovery, diversification strategy, updated estate documents, and evolving career decisions all intersect. Coordinated investment advisory and CPA guidance helps ensure these decisions are evaluated together—not in isolation—so your wealth supports your life well beyond the transaction itself.



https://loom.ly/tq8bXzw

After your liquidity event, the focus shifts from equity concentration to diversified investing, tax strategy, and coordinated advisor and CPA planning. Here’s how to build what comes next.

04/27/2026

Friday was day 2 in SF with the team. Showed the out-of-towners around the city, then ended the night making pasta together.

Not a bad way to end the week. 😎

04/24/2026

Good people. Good baseball. Good food.
The team is together in SF this week — Giants game and dinner at Kokkari Thursday night.

04/21/2026

Liquidity events often prompt a broader question: how do I ensure this wealth supports my family for generations?

When equity is still private, valuations are often lower than they may be post-IPO or acquisition. In certain circumstances, gifting shares before the liquidity event can transfer future appreciation outside your taxable estate while using less of your lifetime exemption. After the event, that leverage is reduced.

These strategies—whether outright gifts, GRATs, SLATs, or other irrevocable trusts—require careful coordination among your estate attorney, CPA, and financial advisor. The decision is not purely tax-driven; it involves control, family dynamics, cash flow, and long-term financial security. Integrated planning helps ensure that wealth transfer aligns with both your values and your overall financial plan.

https://loom.ly/0AZ1Uaw

Gifting shares before an IPO may shift future appreciation outside your taxable estate. Learn how trusts, GRATs, SLATs, and coordinated advisor and CPA planning fit together.

04/17/2026

Anthropic employees are navigating one of the most complex equity planning windows in tech right now—RSUs, ISOs, NQSOs, and a potential IPO on the horizon. We wrote a framework for thinking through it in three phases: Pre-IPO, IPO Through Lockup, and Post-Lockup.

Link in the comments